Reflective practices can have profound benefits for learners, teachers, and administrators in language programs. Reflection activates deeper thinking about the meaning of experiences and ideas, with the result that those experiences and ideas can become more meaningful.

This page has three sections:

• Reflection Across the GE Curriculum

• Guiding Student Reflection

• Example Reflective Questions for Students

Reflection Across the GE Curriculum

As mentioned in the GE Teaching section, Kumaravadiveluʻs “Postmethod pedagogy” emphasizes the importance of the teaching and learning context. Attention to the specific context also plays a significant role in developing GE-focused curricula and materials. Reflection is important to Postmethod pedagogy because developing sensitivity and responsiveness to context requires a reflective mindset. 

Taking a GE approach to teaching involves reflection across the curriculum on the part of all stakeholders. Carrying out a needs/benefits analysis involves reflection on the part of administrators and teachers as they create a curriculum that responds to their students’ future needs and goals. Teachers also need to reflect on the purpose of language learning and how they will discuss this with their learners. For example, will they take an asset-based approach to language learning (i.e., acknowledging the first language (L1) resources students possess) or a deficit-based approach (i.e., treating students’ L1 as a barrier)? Once the curriculum is created, teachers need to reflect on its implementation and their own experiences while also guiding their students to reflect on the content. Lastly, students should reflect not only on the course content itself but also how this content will be relevant to their lives beyond the classroom both in terms of practicality and in terms of reinforcing or challenging their existing ideologies of language.

Further suggestions of how teachers can engage students in reflective tasks are provided in the GE Teaching section.

Guiding Student Reflection

Itʻs not unusual for students (who are, after all, busy people) to do their homework somewhat mechanically, without critical inquiry or depth of thought (and in many cases, merely reinforcing existing stereotypes about English language teaching, learning, and use). However, by providing a set of carefully designed questions or tasks, we can help guide our studentsʻ reflections.  Proponents of GE tend to believe that each student should be allowed to make their own decisions about their goals and about how they want to learn and use Englishes. However, these should be informed decisions, and reflection can be used in a transformative way to raise and learnersʻ critical awareness of GE concepts along with questioning the status quo. For many learners, exploring GE may involve active reassessment of traditional views about the ways native-speakerism and standard language ideology have influenced English language learning and teaching.

Examples of Reflection Questions for Students

When designing reflection tasks, teachers should keep in mind Galloway and Rose’s (2015) GELT proposals for change: 

P1. Increasing World Englishes and ELF exposure in language curricula (i.e., include variation in materials)

P2. Emphasising respect for multilingualism in ELT (i.e., ability to use languages other than English in an interaction)

P3. Raising awareness of Global Englishes in ELT (i.e., raise learners’ awareness of GE to challenge standard English)

P4. Raising awareness of ELF strategies in language curricula (i.e., ability to adapt to different language users) 

P5. Emphasising respect for diverse culture and identity in ELT (i.e., emphasize dynamic, fluid cultures) 

P6. Changing English teacher-hiring practices in the ELT industry

Example Reflection Questions for Critical Reassessment of Beliefs about Native-Speakerism and Standard Language Ideology (P2, P3, P5, & P6)):

• Nearly 75% of users of Englishes are L2 users, and many of the communicative events take place between one L2 user and another L2 user. Considering these facts:

  • Why is it that most of the voices in textbooks native speakers? 

  • Why are most standardized tests focused on accuracy based on a native-speaker standard?

• Why is it that some people believe a native speaker is automatically a better teacher than a non-native speaker?

• Why do some people think that a miscommunication is the fault of the L2 user?

• Which person would you prefer to work with: one who is focused on accuracy based on a native-speaker standard, or one who is cooperative and helpful for communicating and cares about the relationships they are building? How does your choice influence the way you want to study Englishes?

(If you have additional reflection questions that fit this category, please send them to us at gemater[at]hawaii.edu.)

In the sections below, we demonstrate how reflection questions can focus learners’ attention on different aspects of the same clip. 

Gotta See It: Kawasaki is ready for showtime: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgB_8Dy7uDE)

In this video, Barry Davis, a Canadian sports reporter, interviews Munenori Kawasaki, a Japanese player for the Toronto Blue Jays. 

These questions could be integrated into a class differently depending on what’s possible in the context (e.g., they could be used as a warm up activity, or they could constitute an entire lesson).  

Example Reflection Questions for Exposure to Diverse Englishes (P1 & P3):

Before Watching the Video:

• What does it mean to have an accent? Is there a difference between having an accent in your first language and having an accent in your second language? If so, what is the difference?

• In your opinion, what are the characteristics of a “good” English speaker? 

• When you go about your daily life, how often do you interact with “good” English speakers? If you encounter someone whose English is not “good,” how do you interact with them? 

• Who are your role models for speaking English? What makes your role models successful English speakers?
  
  

After Watching the Video:

• Who are the speakers in this interaction? Do you think these speakers have interacted in the past? Why or why not?

• How easy was it for you to understand Davis? To understand Kawasaki?

• How did Kawasaki’s English proficiency impact the interview? Did it matter that Kawasaki was still learning English? Why or why not? 

• What do you think was more important in this interview: Kawasaki’s confidence or his English proficiency? Why?

• What characteristics of a “good” English speaker did Davis and Kawasaki demonstrate? Which characteristics do you think they both need to keep developing? 

• How different do you think this interview would be if Davis focused on correcting Kawasaki’s accuracy based on a “native speaker” norm? 

• How easy would it be for Davis or Kawasaki to understand your English? 

• If you were Kawasaki, would you do a live interview like this? Why or why not? 

• Do you think Kawasaki can be a role model for other people who are learning English? Why or why not? 

Example Reflection Questions for Focusing on Multilingualism (P2)

Before Watching the Video:

• When you interact with someone in English, do you ever use your first language? If so, why do you do this? If not, why do you avoid doing this?

• Do you have any friends whose first language is not English? If so, have you ever tried to learn your friend’s first language? Why or why not?

• If you tried to learn your friend’s first language, how did they react to this? 

• Have your friends ever tried to learn your first language? If so, how did you react to this? 

• How did learning each other’s first language affect your relationship with your friends? 

After Watching the Video:

• What kind of relationship do Kawasaki and Davis have? How can you tell that they have interacted before? What hints do you see in the video?

• What did Davis do or mention that shows he wants to build a good relationship with Kawasaki?

• What happens when Davis uses Japanese during the interview? How does Kawasaki respond?

• What happens when Kawasaki uses Japanese during the interview? How does Davis respond?

• How does Davis react when Kawasaki doesn’t understand one of his questions? Does Kawasaki’s non-understanding of the question affect the interview? Why or why not?

• Do you think it was important that Davis tried to learn Japanese? Why or why not?
  
  

Example Reflection Questions for Focusing on ELF Interaction Strategies (P4):

Before Watching the Video:

• What does successful communication look like to you?

• When you talk to others while speaking your first language, what do you do to make sure the interaction is successful? 

• When you talk to others while speaking your second language, what do you do to make sure the interaction is successful?

• During an interaction, who is responsible for making sure the interaction is successful?
  
  

After Watching the Video:

• How cooperative were Davis and Kawasaki in trying to understand one another? Do you think these speakers have a good relationship? Why or why not? 

• What did each speaker do to help understand each other’s Englishes (or to get help from the other person)? 

  1. What did Davis do to encourage Kawasaki to participate during the interview? How did Davis react when Kawasaki did not understand one of his questions? 

  2. What did Kawasaki do to make himself understood? Do you think Kawasaki was aware of the audience watching the interview at home? Why or why not?

Example Reflection Questions for Focusing on Multiculturalism (P5)

Before Watching the Video:

• What does “culture” mean to you? Is there only one culture in each country? Why or why not? 

• When you are learning a new language, how do you usually learn about the cultures of that language’s speakers?

• Do English speakers have a culture or cultures? If so, what are the characteristics of that culture or cultures?

• Do you think it’s important to learn about the cultures of the people who speak the language you are learning? Why or why not? 

• Do you represent the “typical” culture from your country? Why or why not? 

• How are stereotypes related to culture? Why are stereotypes a problem?
  
  

After Watching the Video:

• Why does Kawasaki tell Davis that he is “serious today?” How does Davis respond?

• Why do you think Davis is concerned about what Kawasaki’s parents might think about the interview?

• What does Kawasaki mean by “Japanese style”? Does he continue the interview in “Japanese style”? How do you know?

• Do you think Kawasaki represents “typical” Japanese people? Why or why not? 

• Is it problematic that we associate people from one country with a specific type of culture? Why or why not? 

• What can Kawasaki teach us about the meaning of culture? 

Example Reflection Questions for Future English Use and Language Learning Goals (P1-P6)

Wrap Up Discussion

• How does Kawasaki say that he has been learning English? What strategies does he say he uses? 

• What language learning strategies can you use to keep improving your skills in English? 

After Watching the Video:

• Reflecting on the video, what do you think Davis and Kawasaki could have done differently to improve their communication?

• If you were going to be working with Davis or Kawasaki often, what could you do to make it easier to understand each other and communicate successfully?

• Is there anything these speakers do when using English that you would like to try?

• Rank the following items in terms of their importance to successful communication:

  • Language proficiency 

  • Accent

  • Confidence

  • Communication strategies

  • Knowledge of the other person’s culture

  • Knowledge of the other person’s first language

  • Relationship between speakers

  • Each speaker’s personality
    
    

• Which of these aspects is most important to successful communication and why?

• Reflecting on all of our previous conversations, what have you learned about successful communication? What does it mean to be a successful communicator?

• In the future, what will you do to keep building your skills as a successful communicator?
  
  

• In the future, what can you do to increase your exposure to other users and varieties of Englishes? 

• What are some Englishes that you are especially interested in exploring and why? What can you do to learn more about them? 

Transitioning from Reflection Questions to Real World Tasks
If your curriculum allows, we recommend extending these reflection activities into real world tasks. 

One such task might be an interview with someone that students consider a successful English user. Interviews could focus on any of the GELT proposals listed above, depending on the interview’s length. 

We provide some suggestions on how to prepare students for this task and how to guide their reflections afterwards. 

Preparation for the Interviews:

1. Decide what to focus on during the interviews; this could be negotiated with the class. Some example topics could be:

   • What does it mean to be a successful communicator? 

   • What are interviewees’ attitudes towards Standard English and other English varieties? 

   • What does “culture” mean to the interviewees?

2. Explain etiquette for arranging interviews as this might be the first time students have done this. Provide a template with sentence stems and other language if necessary. 

3. Provide some example interview questions. Allow students time to develop their own questions and receive feedback from you and their peers.  

4. Allow students to practice interviewing each other during class time, and remind them about note-taking and/or recording practices for their interviews. 

5. Explain how students should report their interview results (e.g., in written form, as a presentation, or some other mode)

Reflection after the Interviews:

1. Allow students to share their interview findings with peers and then reflect together as a whole class

2. Ask students to synthesize the whole class findings in relation to the main topic for the interviews (e.g., What does it mean to be a successful communicator?)

   • Students could compare and contrast their interviewees’ answers to reach a consensus about different aspects of successful communication (e.g., Is confidence more important than proficiency?). 

3. Compile the synthesized findings in a shareable format (e.g., a Word document, chart, infographic, poster, etc.)

4. Consider how students can share these findings beyond the classroom

5. Ask students what they would do differently the next time they interview someone. 

6. Consider whether future interviews with different foci are possible and, if so, incorporate students’ lessons learned into the process. 

The ideas presented in this section came from and were influenced by the following sources: Cogo et al (2021), Galloway & Rose (2014), Galloway & Rose (2015), Kumaravadivelu (1994, 2001, 2006), Rose & Galloway (2019), Rose et al (2020), Selvi & Yazan, (2021), Sifakis, (2019), and Sifakis & Kordia (2023). If you are interested in reading more, you can find them on our References & Links page.